Avunculus
by Alaiana Potter
Summary: Avunculus is Latin for uncle, and is used for one on the mother's side of the family. "Bilbo, why are there dwarves in your house?" Thirteen dwarves looked up at the sound of a female voice and blinked in shock at what they saw... Rating subject to change.
1. Chapter 1

**A.N. This is a bit of a plot bunny that has been bothering me for a while. I will probably continue on with it, but it will take some time between chapters to update as I am working on other stories and this is more of a way for me to get over writers block in those stories. I know that I am going to deviate from the book and the movies, but as this is fanfiction that is perfectly ok. Now I shall stop talking your ears off and allow you to enjoy the story.**

Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable character or place, she only owns Cora, Nordri and Lily Valna.

Avunculus is Latin for Uncle, usually one on the mother's side of the family.

Prologue

In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit, or rather, more specifically; there lived two Hobbits, and on occasion a rather nice Dwarf and his daughter. But for now we shall talk of the Hobbit and his rather charming companion. The owner of the, rather nice, Hobbit Hole was of the name Bilbo Baggins, his companion was named Cora Baggins, and she was a cousin to Bilbo who had lost her parents the same year that he had done in the Fell Winter.

The Dwarf that would on occasion reside with Bilbo and Cora was named Nordri, and he hailed from the lost Kingdom of Erebor, the lonely mountain. His daughter was a bright young lass named Lily Valna Took and, if you have not already guessed, was not entirely Dwarvish. No, her mother was a Hobbit by the name of Bell Took, twin sister of Belladona Took, who also happened to be the mother of Bilbo Baggins. And so, you see, the inhabitants of the Hobbit hole, known to the local folks as Bagend were all somehow related to each other.

Ah yes, back to our story. The story of a Hobbit and his adventure to help a ragtag band of dwarves reclaim their lost Kingdom.


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N. Ok here is a new chapter on this. I decided I would continue this on. I am still going to be incredibly slow in updating the chapters for this though. Anyway, I know I will probably end up shipping Thilbo Bagginshield, but should I ship anyone else?**

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, not even my OCs as I stole their personalities from my brother and two best friends.

Chapter 1

Bilbo Baggins was a very respectable Hobbit, thank you very much. He had a very clean Hobbit Hole and he had one of the loveliest gardens in Hobbiton. Yes, Bilbo Baggins was very much respectable and incredibly family oriented, after all he had allowed his cousin, Cora, to live with him, and even if she was rather odd for a Baggins in how she loved to explore. Cora could often be found in the company of Bilbo's other cousin, Lily Valna. Lily was a Took and related to Bilbo through his mother, and like all Tooks she would often wander, but unlike other Tooks, or even other Hobbits in general, she had a strong stone sense, for, you see, Lily was only half Hobbit, her father was a Dwarf by the name of Nordri.

Lily looked very much like her mother, she had beautiful curls of the color of burnished gold. She was also of the shorter stature of the Hobbits and loved to run about bare foot, even though in her childhood she had been made fun of for her smaller feet. That was one of the hints that Lily was more than a Hobbit, her feet being smaller, and not as hairy as a normal Hobbit's. She also sported lovely side burns that she was rather proud of, as they connected her to her dwarvish nature.

Nordri was the most skilled blacksmith in the shire and truly just about the only one that resided there. The Hobbits tolerated him because of his skill in fixing their implements of farming. He was stubborn as any other dwarf though and would sometimes butt heads with some of the more…uppity…Hobbits (Read Sackville-Bagginses). Like all dwarves Nordri had a love of ale and through repeated trial and error had managed to boost up Bilbo and Cora's alcohol tolerance. Lily did not need it being of dwarvish heritage and able to hold her liquor quite well, but I digress.

It happened that on a particularly sunny and warm Thursday morning that Bilbo was sitting outside his home on a bench by the freshly painted green door with its gleaming brass knob that a strange looking old man stopped by. I say strange looking for he was tall, even for a Big Folk like he so obviously was. This odd old fellow was known by the name of Gandalf the Grey, and he was a wizard.

"Good Morning," Bilbo said with a chipper smile when he noticed the older man standing by his gate and seemingly lost in thought as he looked up at the house.

"What do you mean, good morning," the man asked, giving a sharp look at poor Bilbo. "Do you want to wish me a good morning, or do you mean that is a good morning whether I want it or not?" Needless to say Bilbo was rather confused by the strange old man as he sat on his bench with his mouth hanging half open and frowning at the stranger. "Or perhaps you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning, or are you simply stating that this is a morning to be good on?"

Bilbo blinked, looking more than a bit stupid as he looked at the man on the other side of his fence. For some reason he had a feeling of foreboding, much like the feelings he got when Lily or Cora were up to something, as they often were. After a slightly longer than necessary pause he finally found his voice. "A-all of them at once I suppose?" he asked rather than stated. Still the silence seemed to persist even after he had said that, though not one to be rude Bilbo looked around himself, half hoping that maybe one of his neighbors, or even his cousin would find it in their hearts to rescue him from the oddness of this encounter.

"C-can I help you?" Bilbo finally gave into asking, after the silence had stretched on too long for his liking.

"That remains to be seen," the old man said in a voice slightly lower than he was speaking in before. "I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure."

The old man raised an eyebrow as he said the last word, looking right at Bilbo, who simply paled and had the inner thought of _Dear lord don't let Lily or Cora hear those words,_ instead he simply stayed "What? An adventure? No I don't imagine anyone west of Bree would have much interest in Adventures," He stood up, thinking himself done with the conversation and went to pull his mail from his letter box. "Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things, adventures. Make ya late for dinner!" he stated, pulling his mail from the box and trying to ignore the old man who was now giving him a look that clearly stated that he found what the Hobbit had said to have been rather disappointing.

Bilbo cleared his throat, not able to stand having that look, the looks that said he was disappointing someone like a grandparent, "well then, good morning," he stated awkardly and turned to beat a hasty retreat into his home.

He paused however when the old man spoke up once more. "To think that I would have lived to see the day I get 'Good Morning'ed by Belladona Took's son, as if I were selling buttons at the door!"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You've changed, and not entirely for the better, Bilbo Baggins."

"I'm sorry do I know you?"

"No, but you know my name, though you don't remember I belong to it. I'm Gandalf, and Gandalf means…me."

Bilbo blinked again and decided retreat would be his best option, though he did not want to appear any ruder than he had in the past few minutes. "Ah, yes…Gandalf…you used to have the most spectacular Fireworks…well…I must be going, very busy day, uh, cleaning…Good Morning." He said a final good morning as he practically ran into his house to escape from the seemingly crazy old wizard. Yes he definitely did not want to be involved in this at all, and he desperately hoped that neither Cora nor Lily would find out about it. He closed the door to his hobbit hole and let out a sigh before bustling off to prepare some food. He was expecting to have Lily and Nordri over for supper when they got done at the forges.

AVAVAVAVAVAVAVAV

Bilbo had just finished setting the table for four, having done the work by himself as Cora had gone off to cause mischief with Lily somewhere about the town, when he heard a knock on the door. Curious, as he was not expecting company and wondered who would be calling so late in the day, seeing how any of his expected guests would have just walked in and loudly declared that they were home. He looked down at his apparel and sighed, having no time to change from the patchwork housecoat that he had on. He tied the ties tighter and went to answer the door, and found, to his surprise that there was a strange dwarf at the door.

"Can I help you sir?" he asked, trying to be polite, thinking maybe the dwarf was looking for Nordri, some did stop by to ask directions to his forge on occasions that they heard that he was there. "If you are looking for Nordri's smithy I must inform you that it is just down the road" He could not help but feel nervous as the stranger on his doorstep gave him a measuring look, seeming to size him up.

"I am not looking for Nordri. I was actually told to meet a party here. We were told that there would be food." The dwarf spoke in a deep rumbling voice with a slight accent that Bilbo could not quite recognize. "Dawlin, at your service sir." He added on to the end as an afterthought as he pushed past the hobbit and into the warm, taking off his hood as he did so and hanging it on a peg by the door.

Bilbo, it seemed, was caught in a slight stupor, only recovering in time to shut the door. "Ah yes, I'm terribly sorry, I was not expecting anyone to show up so early and have not finished preparing all the food quite yet. May I offer you anything to drink while I finish the preparations?" he asked rather nervously, looking up at the slightly taller than him dwarf.

The dwarf, Dawlin, gave a grunt that might have been a yes and looked around the cozy hobbit hole, happy that the hobbits at least seemed to have the sense to live underground. For his part, Bilbo frantically puttered about, gathering more food and dishes and laying them out on the table, he paused though and stuck his head around the doorframe to the sitting room where he had left his guest and cleared his throught to gain the man's attention.

"Hem, pardon me, Mr. Dawlin, but I want to make sure I have the plate count right, how many were expected to show up to the party again?" He let out a squeak at the end as the rather intimidating dwarf looked at him with a raised brow.

"If Master Gandalf shows up then we should be expecting fourteen to show up," he finally rumbled.

Bilbo nearly fainted at that, fourteen, fourteen unexpected guests. Just bloody great, fourteen dwarves, two hobbits, one combination of the two and finally a human, er, wizard, Bilbo feared that his larder would be wiped out.

"Right then," he muttered to himself, hooking his thumbs under his suspenders and letting out a soft breath. "Right then, soup it is."

AVAVAVAVAVAVAVAV

Bilbo had ended up making a good start on a hearty stew before any more of his unexpected guests showed up. The second to arrive was a dwarf by the name of Balin, who seemed to be Dawlin's brother. Next were two dwarfs who looked remarkably similar to each other, and seemed to look up to the other two as some form of teacher.

It was at this point that the door burst open unceremoniously and a sweet sounding sing-song voice echoed though the cozy hobbit hole, startling the four dwarves that were gathered in the dining room. "Dearest, darling cousin of mine, I have arrived, have you missed me?" Cora's voice rang like a bell through the home, her light tread only heard really by Bilbo, that and it was covered by the slightly heavier tread of booted feet, most likely belonging to Lily as the two rarely seemed to leave each other's sides.

"Bilbo," Lily called out, poking her head into the kitchen from the dining room. "Why are there dwarves, and why do they seemed shocked to see us? Oh are they here to see Da? If they are they are going to have to wait, he is still at the forges."

The four dwarves did indeed look quite shocked to see the two females.

Lily wore an extremely amused expression and Cora was giving the dwarves a calculated look, her arms crossed over her chest and one eyebrow raised.

At this point there was a knock on the door and Bilbo let out a slightly exasperated sigh and shoved the ladle into Cora's hands so that he could go get the door. Taking her signal as it were Cora moved over to the stove and tended to the soup, all the while listening keenly to the sounds of multiple heavy bodies falling into the house and the deep rumble of multiple dwarves.

The rumbling got closer to the kitchen and Cora watched as Lily leaned up against a wall to watch as the dwarves all gathered in the dining room and looked around in confusion.

"Where's the food at then?" one asked in a particularly loud voice, making Bilbo wince and hurry into the kitchen.

"Oh, do be polite would you?" Lily finally snapped after a while with the dwarves grumbling about the food, or lack thereof, making them all look over at her as she stood in the rounded doorway. "The food is cooking, and if you would stop stressing out your host then it would arrive faster."

She was scowling by this point and looking at the dwarves with a glare. They in turn were looking at her in shock.

"And here I thought that my baby brothers would know better than to put unneeded stress on their host," a new voice spoke up from behind Lily, causing two of the dwarves to flinch and a third to look up with enough force to cause a normal human to get whiplash. "And I also expected my older brother to know better than to let his younger siblings act like uneducated fools."

"Hello Da," Lily watched in amusement as the three dwarves that had looked so shocked before now looked at her in even more shock, the youngest even looking like he was going to faint.

At this point a heavy knock sounded on the door, causing the party to fall silent at the somber mood that seemed to fill the air.


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N. Just a quick disclaimer and response to a review. I do not own any of this except for my ocs. **

**Happy Christmas all of you, as a treat I am updating all my stories!**

Chapter 2

_At this point a heavy knock sounded on the door, causing the party to fall silent at the somber mood that seemed to fill the air._

Of course Cora had to ruin it. "I'll get it!" she chirped up, roughly shoving the ladle she had been using on the soup at Lily and skipping to the door, completely ignoring the atmosphere that had settled over the room at the sound of the heavy knock. Lily only snorted in amusement and turned to go back to the food on the stove and tend to its needs, content to leave Bilbo, who looked like he wanted to slam his head through the wall, and her father, who looked far too amused for anybody's good, to deal with Cora and their last guest.

"Hi! Welcome to the Baggin's residence, I'm Cora, now if you don't mind wiping your boots at the door and hanging your hood on the peg with the others," Cora's voice could be heard floating down the hallway. Lily had to go back to the kitchen to stop herself from laughing at the expressions on the faces of those around her. The wizard's expression of shock and confusion was especially amusing.

"Please have a seat, Lily should be out with the soup soon, and whatever business it is you have come to discuss can wait until after we have all been fed." Cora's voice floated into the kitchen where Lily was finishing up with the stew.

"Great timing Cora, get them into a line, it's far too crowded in here to try and serve any other way!" Lily smiled as she stuck her head around the doorframe into the dining room to catch a look at the new guest. She saw a tall-for-a-dwarf male with dark hair and beard and a regal standing that was currently eyeing her father with what appeared to be confusion written across his face. At the sound of her voice though he looked over to her and blinked in shock.

"Well, what are you all waiting for? Weren't you guy's hungry?" Cora piped up, grabbing a random bowl from the table and shoving it none to ceremoniously into the hands of the yet to be named new comer. "Grab a bowl, get in a line and my dear cousin, Lily and myself will serve you the soup." She smiled at the stunned crowd of dwarves, rolling her eyes when they made no move to get up. "Well you certainly are a rude bunch," she huffed crossing her arms over her chest and turning towards the kitchen. "If you don't get food now then I shall eat all of it myself." That seemed to be the key to getting them to move as there was suddenly a great scraping of chairs and the heavy tread of booted feet as the dwarves brought themselves and their bowls to the kitchen to be served.

AVAVAVAVAVAVAVAV

Lily sat to the side of the dining room with Cora at her side, both had a bowl of the stew and were listening to the men in the room talking. There was something about a mountain, a dragon, lost treasure and a quest to go back. Bilbo looked sicker and sicker the more he heard, while the two lasses looked as if they would be following them the first chance they got, not that the men folk were paying much mind to the two girls at the side of the room. The newcomer – Thorin, they had learned his name was – stood up when the wizard held aloft a key, declaring that it had been left in his care and was his now.

"There's a key, there must be a door," one of the others piped up, the girls were not sure who it was, there were a few of them sitting up at the table there.

"No Duh," Lily muttered into her soup, causing Cora to snort into hers and Bilbo and Nordri to direct disappointed looks and a warning 'girls, behave' towards them. This of course brought the attention of the rest of the company to them. Lily could see the question burning in their eyes about them, about her. Without another word she stood up from her spot and brought her bowl into the kitchen to clean up.

"Now is not the time Thorin," she heard her father's voice rumble, obviously in answer to some silent question. Cora silently slipped into the room behind her and shut the door behind her, muffling the conversation that was happening out in the dining area.

"They aren't talkin' bad Lily," Cora said softly as she started on the washing up. "They were just not expecting to see such a lovely young Darrow lass out here, much less learn that the prettiest of them all was practically raised here."

Lily looked up from her own work and over at her dear friend, giving her a soft smile. Cora knew of her insecurities, after all, children could be cruel and Lily had faced much name calling from other fauntlings growing up about her hair, her lovely sideburns, her feet, really they would poke fun at anything. She opened her mouth to reply to Cora when they heard raucous laughter coming from the dining room and a distinctive shout of "Don't do that, you'll blunt them!"

Grinning at each other like the fools they were the girls flung open the door and joined in the merriment at the expense of their cousin.


End file.
